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Kratky Jalapeno Pepper Starts -

kaitylynn

kaitylynn

Having grown some lettuce in Kratky Jars, choose to start a few Jalapeno seeds to see if there are good results to be had.  Sprouted 2, both have made it but one is in a fogponics system to see which works best for me.  They sprouted on November 5th.
 

 
I shifted the starter plugs into 2" net-pots on the 6th.
 

 
From they both went under the light.  250w MH, 16/8 interval on November 10th.
 

 
Eventually one was shifted to the other system.
 

 
The Kratky is doing well, though I have had to clean some algae off its roots and light seal the container.  I had it in the open and algae grew quickly.  Still, happy with the results so far, November 23rd!
 
 
Color on both of the plants is awesome, but the plant in the fogponics system is definitely not keeping pace with the Kratky.  Like, half the size!  I guess this might make sense if considering that while the seeds came from the same pepper, they are still separate seeds.  Pretty fun! :)
 
I'm giving Kratky a try with a yellow moruga cutting I took off of one of my plants this fall.  It's doing great so far.  It is in a quart mason jar and has already drank up most of the nutrient mix so I had to add more.  
 
Tybo said:
I'm giving Kratky a try with a yellow moruga cutting I took off of one of my plants this fall.  It's doing great so far.  It is in a quart mason jar and has already drank up most of the nutrient mix so I had to add more.  
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I have topped up the quart jars when growing lettuce and it did not seem to cause any issues. As long as the top third or so is left for the root airing, it should be fine I feel. I had algae grow in the Jalapeno container and I emptied it and started the solution from scratch. Had to clean algae from the roots. Does not seem to have caused any issues so far.

What size net-pot did you select? Mine are in 2".
 
CaneDog said:
Looking good Kaitlynn!  They're growing fast.  I've been on the fence about running a kratky or two to speed up some indoor production.
 
Are you running a fan on those at all?
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This system is impressive in how fast things are moving.  I am using a fairly standard dose of Masterblend mixed for vegging.I have a fan that is pushing air up from underneath...sort of like a vortex I imagine.  It has been performing ok so far.
 
kaitylynn said:
 

What size net-pot did you select? Mine are in 2".
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Mine fits perfect in the quart size mason/ball jars.  I'm pretty sure it's 2".  I'll have to measure.
 
Tybo said:
 
 
Nope.  I was wrong, they are 3".  They fit the wide mouth jars.
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Oh cool!  I never bothered to measure the ones for my mason jars.  The ones I have are cut up pudding cups and they fit perfect.  Would be easier to buy them!  Thank you for measuring :)
 
kaitylynn said:
 
Whoa, thank you for sharing that!!! :D  How awesome!  Looks like a trashcan for reservoir?  How many gallons?  Right now I am using 3/4 gallon containers, but will likely have to shift to something larger as some point.
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Yes, 30 gallon trash can. I usually start mine in a foam cloner disc floating in a dixie cup. From there into a 10 inch bucket lid type net cup filled with hydrocorn set on a 3 gallon pail. Once I see roots coming out of that they are ready for the trash can or larger. Have fun with Kratky. I have had 12 ft tall tomato plants in an 18 gallon tub.
 
skullbiker said:
 
 
Yes, 30 gallon trash can. I usually start mine in a foam cloner disc floating in a dixie cup. From there into a 10 inch bucket lid type net cup filled with hydrocorn set on a 3 gallon pail. Once I see roots coming out of that they are ready for the trash can or larger. Have fun with Kratky. I have had 12 ft tall tomato plants in an 18 gallon tub.
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How often do you find need to top off the reservoirs?
 
kaitylynn said:
 
How often do you find need to top off the reservoirs?
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I would add periodically as the plants grew and slowly let the level drop to about 30—40% left in reservoir and then attempt to maintain that level. On a 5 ft tall pepper plant or 8 ft plus tomato plant that could require 1/2 to 2 gallons per day depending on air temp, etc.
 
skullbiker said:
I would add periodically as the plants grew and slowly let the level drop to about 30—40% left in reservoir and then attempt to maintain that level. On a 5 ft tall pepper plant or 8 ft plus tomato plant that could require 1/2 to 2 gallons per day depending on air temp, etc.
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So much for my misconception that Kratky with its' reservoir = less frequency of watering.
 
Also, with that much watering, per day, do you still use nutrients every time, or is plain water sufficient sometimes?
 
DownRiver said:
 
So much for my misconception that Kratky with its' reservoir = less frequency of watering.
 
Also, with that much watering, per day, do you still use nutrients every time, or is plain water sufficient sometimes?
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I use nutrients every time because the plant is always pulling nutrients from the solution.
 
I have experimented with DWC systems and would always run nutes unless there was a reason the plants required a flushing.

When choosing to try Kratky, decided that I would use the same methodology. I am mixing the following per gallon: 2.4gr Masterblend/1.2gr Epsom salts/2.4gr calcium nitrate. Great color and they seem to be growing quickly. Also, no leaf burn so far even with a little hotter mix.
 
One thing I found with Kratky is to keep an eye on the ph of the solution. If it goes wonky the plant will slow considerably. Also, do you check your mix either for E.C. or PPM? I usually tried to keep ph near6.0–6.1.
 
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